How do you evaluate the performance of a city?

For some people, they listen to what the city’s leaders are saying,  from their campaign promises through to their inaugural address, all the way to their parting words on the last day in office.  (After all, they’re the ones in charge, right?)

For some people, they talk with neighbors, friends, and residents of a city, about how they feel their needs are being met on a daily basis.  Are their roads cleared in the winter?  Are the schools living up to their standard?  (After all, they’re the ones that chose to live, stay and work there, so they have the most at stake, right?)

And yes, there are even those who beileve the performance of a city is measured in Lombardi Trophies, Stanley Cups and World Series rings.  (The less said about this school of thought, the better.)

For Jake Haulk and his team at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, performance, in the case of Pittsburgh and the Western Pennsylvania region, lies in the data.  They pour through the metrics that define the citizens of the region and shape our daily lives. They assess this data, both in comparison to its past performance and in comparison to other similar-sized cities, to provide concrete, no-frills analysis of just how well the region is doing, from education to transportation to optimizing its budget, and everything in between.

But what do their findings tell us about us?

On Sunday, Jake checks in with Your American Story Radio, as he talks with Raja about the mission of the Allegheny Institute, their latest projects and areas of research, the trends they’re noticing about the data, and what individuals and businesses should do to take advantage of this data.  You won’t want to miss this discussion!

-And speaking of guests telling us about ourselves…..

Individually, each of us knows our story.  How old we are.  Where we come from.  What we do.  Our living and spending habits.  But taken as a collective, this data can be the absolute lifeblood of business.

The demographics of our lives serve as a critical tool for businesses to plan their strategy on how to market their product or service to us. And when it comes to demographic analysis in the United States, few if any experts have the pedigree of Peter Francese.  Peter is the founder of American Demographics Magazine (now a part of Ad Age Magazine), and has spent decades not only gathering the data about our lives, but analyzing that data, synthesizing it, and presenting it in a way that holds a  proverbial mirror to businesses and consumers about the way we think and act.

This Sunday, Peter joins Raja to discuss the study of demographics, how business can and should use demographic analysis to get the jump on their competition, and what the future holds for our economy, based on his current analysis of demographic trends.

(And if you’re an entrepreneur, you may want to pay close attention. There’s plenty of good stuff for you to start your next business!)

So it’s time for you to implement your plan to market to your target audience. Nowadays, of course, the top weapon in your arsenal to do this is more than likely going to be your website. But how do you know if your website is getting you the optimal results you need? And how can you structure your website to maximize the potential of the internet? On Sunday, we’ll talk with the owner of one of the premier web design and development firms in the region, Alan Laick of Laick Design, who will talk with Raja about the importance of effective web design and layout to get your message across to your audience. Plus, Alan will discuss the opportunities that are out there to strengthen your brand BEYOND your homepage, namely the development of an App for your product or service.

Also, Raja talks with KDKA Radio talk personality Rob Pratte about the business of radio, and how the emergence of social media has buoyed the channels through which traditional media (radio, TV, print) reach their audiences.

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

Of the many areas of study available to college business students, entrepreneurship may be the most intriguing, given that the traits of a typical successful entrepreneur cannot be clearly defined or categorized to the point where his or her career path or business acumen can be laid out in a lesson plan for others to follow.

Or can it?

In the race to produce the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, collegiate entrepreneurship education has been among the fastest growing academic disciplines in the country, with schools such as Babson College and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania leading the way on a national level.  In the Western Pennsylvania area,  Duquesne University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University are among the many that feature programs designed to foster the growth of the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders.

But among the Western Pennsylvania schools that feature entrepreneurial education, Chatham University stands out, thanks to their Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, focusing exclusively on the opportunities that are out there for women to succeed in starting and growing their own companies.

On this edition of Your American Story Radio, Raja talks with Rebecca Harris, the Director of the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham University, about her story, the mission of the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, and her thoughts on the role that women entrepreneurs can play in shaping the business landscape, not only in the region, but also in the country.

(And, much like our previous discussions with entrepreneurial educators such as Jack Mason of Duquesne University, we’ll ask Rebecca the age-old question….can entrepreneurship be taught?)

-Also, we check in with our friend Mark Uchida, owner of A Remarkable Kitchen Store in Blawnox.  Mark stops by to discuss the latest goings-on with his store, the trends he is seeing in the home remodeling industry, and what he is doing to stay on top of the competition.

Mark Uchida joins Raja in studio

Episode 70

“Lost in Translation” No More:  How Juergen Fritsch Has Reinvented the Process of Medical Dictation
Anybody who has spent time receiving treatment in a hospital, no matter the reason or the severity, knows that one of the most important responsibilities the medical staff can be summed up in three words:

Get It Right

Often, one of the hurdles in this objective is the process of medical dictation, and ensuring that the doctor’s orders and recommendations are clear, concise, manageable and shareable throughout the medical network in place to get you back to health.  There is critical data present in this process that can be severely damaging if it is just off by a slight amount.

Enter Juergen Fritsch.  Fritsch is a nationally-recognized thought leader in the field of medical speech technology, having founded a pair of pioneering companies in this field, Interactive Systems Inc., followed by MultiModal Technologies (now M*Modal).  In 2013, Speech Technology Magazine named Fritsch one of its “Speech Luminary” award recipients for the remarkable strides he had made in the healthcare industry in the field of speech technology.

On this episode, Juergen Fritsch joins Raja to discuss his remarkable career, the technology behind the capture and analysis of clear, effective human speech patterns, and what lies ahead for his company, and the industry as a whole.

-As part of this show, we pose a question to you that may be critical to determine whether or not your company can rise above the competition to reach that elusive “next level”:

How effective are your social media and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies?

Marketing is a whole new ballgame in the age of social media. Content is king, and knowing what content you need to put out, how frequently you put that content out, and to whom you are targeting that content are essential in devising effective social media and search engine optimization strategies that reach your target market without breaking the bank in the process.

But where do you start?

To help wade through the rough waters of social media and SEO, Raja enlists the help of one of the country’s premier experts, Bob Faletti of Blue Archer. Bob joins Raja to discuss how you can tell whether or not your social media and SEO strategies are working, and if not, what you can do right now to boost your social media and SEO profiles in the online marketplace.